


light it up (fade it out)

by aerialbots



Series: transcendence [1]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Crack Treated Seriously, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-18 23:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4724702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerialbots/pseuds/aerialbots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Nova Prime Centre is supposed to be a safe haven for any and all gifted children. It hits them harder, somehow, when it actually needs to be one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	light it up (fade it out)

**Author's Note:**

> Also known as "that one Xavier's School AU, except not really". At this point I have given up on trying to make sense of the vagaries of my brain, it just tells me "do the thing" and I give up two weeks of my life to write it. (Superpowers, tho.)

The moment the destruction of the Eyrie goes up on the 'net the entire Centre seems to burst awake. In Prime and Ratchet's absence it falls to the mentors and wardens to implement the emergency protocols, all of the younger wards getting briskly shepherded underground to the eastern wing, the corridors hollowing with startling efficiency until there's no one but the warden kids keeping watch.

The hall goes from packed to eerily empty in a matter of minutes, nothing but the rhythmic chimes of the emergency siren breaking its silence; Skyfire is so startled by the shadow that appears next to him that he nearly activates the intruder alert.

"Calm down, it's just me", Starscream chides, leaning against the desk, all affected nonchalance and wary eyes.

Comforting as his presence may be, there's something nagging at Skyfire's conscience, so he asks, "Didn't Brainstorm assign you to the south wing?"

Starscream rolls his eyes. "I switched with Seachange, duh. Did you really think I would leave you here alone, you big oaf?" Then, because this _is_  Starscream, after all, he adds, "Plus, I want to know what all the fuss is about, and the best way is to be there when Prime and Ratchet arrive."

"Nobody even saw them leave", Skyfire comments quietly. "Do you think...?"

"They knew? Hell if I know -- for all we know Ratchet could be like Perceptor's father. Or maybe Skywarp took them." The fact that he still hasn't figured out what Ratchet's gift is well into his fourth year is a sore point for Starscream, despite the fact that only Prime seems to know what it is.

Be that as it may, there's no doubt about where they've gone; a quick check on his phone tells Skyfire the fire  at the Eyrie is mostly under control, but emergency services are still waiting for the Fire Brigade to arrive before beginning the search for bodies.

 _Bodies_ , he thinks, suddenly dizzy and a little sick. Not even survivors, just the corpses of a couple and their children.

Alpha Trion had been an extremely gifted telepath, but Vector Sigma's kind of adaptive abilities only manifested about once every century, and every branch of the scientific community involved in the research and applications of hyper-abilities had wondered endlessly what the result of such a pairing would be.

It never amounted to much, of course, because with speculation running rampant and only getting worse with the birth of each of their kids, Trion and Sigma never let anyone but their closest relations within a ten-mile radius of their little house on the mountainside, and those few admitted in had been unfailingly quiet on the matter, regardless of bribes, promises or threats.

And now they're all dead, under all the smoke and rubble.

Skyfire swallows, ash on his tongue, and pockets his phone once more.

"Maybe she made it", Starscream says, abruptly, an odd strain to his voice, and it doesn't take much for Skyfire to realise this is his way of avoiding the word 'hope'. "The kind of gift she had-- if one of them could have survived it, it was Vector Sigma."

"Maybe", Skyfire agrees quietly. "And their kids... I mean, at least one of them could've had a similar ability. Like the twins."

The sirens stop mid-chime, and this time Starscream's the one to nearly hit the alarm until they realise just who it is that's crossing the Centre doors.

Skyfire finds it odd, later, how everyone always seemed to have this idea of them as a bunch of kids hidden behind their parents' skirts, Vector and Alpha a pair of lions protecting their cubs, and yet the group that arrives at the Centre in the dead of the night is nothing of the sort -- the tallest one must be sixteen, at least, and two of them already tower over Ratchet by at least half a head, each of them carrying a smaller kid, another one practically glued to the Centre's medic.

"Thank you, Starscream", Prime says, stepping away from the little group to press his palm to the desk's security scanner, which seems a bit moot when the system recognised him the moment he walked in. "Skyfire, I'm afraid I'll have to cut your shift short. It'll not be marked as such, of course -- your grades will not suffer from this, but I need everyone back on their dormitories as soon as possible." He glances at them briefly, and the fact that he can be this imposing even when Skyfire is resistant to his kind of gift seems rather unfair. "All wardens included, Starscream."

"Oh. Er, of course", Skyfire blinks, resisting the urge to glance at the newcomers. Starscream clearly weighs the pros and cons of rebelling, but in the end acquiesces with a quick nod.

"Thank you. You may go to your rooms now."

He looks back to the console, as if that hadn't been dismissive enough; Skyfire quickly gathers his things from under the desk, toying with the strap of his bag as he scurries to Starscream's side -- or comes as close to it as someone his height can.

"I think", Starscream whispers, taking hold of his arm to lead him away, "you may have been right, this time."

 _Right about... Oh._ Skyfire bites his lip and, unable to help himself, glances back at the group. They're leaving too, in the opposite direction, and then--

The tallest one glances back.

It only lasts a second or two, but it's enough for Skyfire's heart to twist painfully within his chest, because the boy can't be older than him -- seems younger, even --- and yet Skyfire has never seen such-- such _lifelessness_  in another person's eyes before.

Then the boy looks away abruptly, features shifting into something harder, and the downward turn of his mouth is the last thing Skyfire sees before the northern wing entrance closes behind Prime.

 


End file.
